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It didn’t take long for an upset to happen at the NCAA Tournament and a Canadian was at the centre of it all.

Whitby’s Dyshawn Pierre, a starting forward with the Dayton Flyers, a No. 11 seed out of the Atlantic 10 Conference, knocked off the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes, a No. 6 seed, 60-59 on Thursday.

Pierre was arguably the best player on the floor in a first half that saw the Flyers cling to a one-point lead and then came through at the most crucial stretch of the biggest game of his career.

After Ohio State had battled back from a seven-point deficit to take the lead by a bucket, Pierre was fouled on a three-point attempt with just 26 seconds remaining and coolly drilled all three free throws. That ended up being the difference after each team made one more bucket before the buzzer.

Pierre finished with a team-best 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds, along with a couple of assists. The sophomore shot just 65% from the line in the regular season, so what was he thinking as he stepped to the line?

“I was trying to stay calm, stay focused, and I knew we had to make those free throws for the team,” Pierre said. “Luckily, I did.”

As a result, Dayton put itself in position to meet Syracuse, led by Pierre’s good friend and former CIA Bounce AAU teammate Tyler Ennis. Not that Pierre was concerning himself with any of that.

“I’m not really thinking about that right now. Right now it’s about the team. We just want to advance,” he said.

It was a disappointing and crushing way to end a great career at Ohio State for star guard Aaron Craft. Craft, one of the best defenders in college basketball was unable to stop Vee Sanford from hitting a jumper to clinch the game with six seconds remaining, just nine seconds after Craft had put his team back in front. Craft then missed just before the buzzer.

Sanford said, self-deprecatingly, “We’ve probably drawn up a play like that and I messed it up previously, but (head coach Archie Miller) just kept his trust in me, and I’m just thankful that the shot went in.”

Meanwhile, Craft found it difficult to believe that his team had blown yet another close game in a season full of them and that it was all over for him in the college arena.

“This is the fourth game- winner hit on me in my time here. I can’t change it. Obviously, you want it to end differently, but these guys still have time,” Craft said of OSU’s returning players.

“It’s amazing the way that, you know, defence has kind of been my thing, and it’s amazing how it’s going to end with a kid getting the game winner on me,” Craft said.

As for how he wanted to be remembered at Ohio State?

“Sorry, I have zero thoughts on that right now,” said Craft, looking rather glum, which made a lot of sense, considering the circumstances.

“I’m upset at the way that we played this game and the way that we didn’t take the opportunity and make the most of it. So that’s for you guys to decide and discuss, but right now, I can’t move past this game yet.”

Craft ended up with 16 points, four rebounds and four steals in a game he’ll remember for all the wrong reasons.

There wasn’t much separating the two squads and it could have finished up quite differently.

A 10-0 Ohio State run had Dayton head coach Miller — who considers OSUs Thad Matta his mentor — and his Flyers feeling “uneasy,” but, “this team is oblivious to it,” Miller said “We’ve been through it a lot. We’ve come back a lot. We’ve done a lot of things in big moments this season. We have a lot of guys that have been out there.”

Including Pierre, who added that hearing O Canada played before the game was: “Pretty cool.”

They’ll play it again Saturday before pals Pierre and Ennis square off.

@WolstatSun

FRIENDS AND FOES

Two friends could stand in the way of Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis as he attempts to take his team through to the Elite Eight.

Whitby’s Dyshawn Pierre was excellent for the Dayton Flyers in an upset of Ohio State on Thursday, setting up a third-round battle with the Orange.

Pierre, who led his home town of Whitby’s Anderson Collegiate Raiders to two straight Ontario provincial titles and also played for the Whitby Wildcats, spent his summers honing his game with the CIA Bounce program, taking on U.S. squads in various tournaments and leagues. There he trained and played at times alongside Ennis, the son of Bounce co-founder Tony McIntyre. They also competed for Canada at the 2011 Nike Global Challenge and also took the court many times with Kansas superstar Andrew Wiggins. Whoever wins on Saturday likely will have to do battle with Wiggins and the Jayhawks. Pierre could even guard him, if the massive upset happens, or we

ll get a matchup of two players that will be selected in the high lottery this summer.

Ennis isn’t eager to look to the future though.

“I try not to think too far (ahead). Anything can happen, there can be upsets, anything like that,” Ennis said in the Syracuse locker room after dispatching Western Michigan.

“It would be a great opportunity, it would be fun, but you can’t really think that far ahead, especially in this tournament.”

He has no choice but to plan for a meeting with Pierre though.

“I think it’s going to be a really good game,” said the point guard. “They play hard, they’re deep and I think Dyshawn’s one of the best players they have. Going forward, we kind of have to key in on him and keep him off the boards as much as possible.”

Canadian Dyshawn Pierre leads Dayton to 60-59 upset win over Ohio State

It didn’t take long for an upset to happen at the NCAA Tournament and a Canadian was at the centre of it all.

Whitby’s Dyshawn Pierre, a starting forward with the Dayton Flyers, a No. 11 seed out of the Atlantic 10 Conference, knocked off the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes, a No. 6 seed, 60-59 on Thursday.

Pierre was arguably the best player on the floor in a first half that saw the Flyers cling to a one-point lead and then came through at the most crucial stretch of the biggest game of his career.

After Ohio State had battled back from a seven-point deficit to take the lead by a bucket, Pierre was fouled on a three-point attempt with just 26 seconds remaining and coolly drilled all three free throws. That ended up being the difference after each team made one more bucket before the buzzer.

Pierre finished with a team-best 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds, along with a couple of assists.